Ride Report: 31 Miles, 1,973 Total Miles, 15.4 Avg. mph, 1,972 Ft. Climbing, 2,453 Calories, 1 Hoosier Pass, 3 Happy Campers, 1 Wrecked Camper.
Breaking News>>>>New maximum speed for the trip = 48.9 mph.
Breaking News 2>>>New maximum average speed to complete a major climb = 9.1 mph. We reached the top of Hoosier pass in 1:10. Don’t get me wrong - there are likely plenty of people who have done it faster, but those numbers exceeded my expectations. And not one of the three of us felt taxed by the effort.
The breaking news stories no doubt contribute substantially to the 3 happy campers mentioned in the ride report. As for the 1 wrecked camper, the reader will just have to...well...read...the rest of the post.
The original plan for today was just to climb Hoosier Pass and then return to Frisco. This because the two days following (to get to Pueblo) were both rather long riding days. We figured that anything we could do to make those two days easier would be a good thing. So: 1 Climb Hoosier Pass. 2 Shorten the following two days by 10 miles - that's the distance to the top of the Pass.
These are the three happy campers mentioned previously. At the start of the day. That's why we're all happy, and a bit anxious. Ya don't hear stories about the highest point on the T/A and not get a bit anxious - no matter how many passes one has been over since the start of the trip. And keep in mind, this is KnP's first big mountain pass. We'll see how it goes.
Susan did what, at this point, has become our custom for dealing with mountain passes. Drive a short distance ahead, find a pull-out and wait for riders to arrive - then see if they need anything. We were 5.4 miles into the climb before we stopped for any length of time.
Just over half way up and still smiling.
Just over half way up and again...still smiling. This is a good sign. At this point I might mention the biggest disadvantage in any climb worth the name. Weight. Look at these two - just look at 'em. Look at me in the previous pic - or in any pic taken of me after I reached the age of 28. My guess is that between the two of 'em they total about 235. I weighed in at 203 last time I checked. No wonder they're smiling. I may be smiling on the outside - but I'm grumpy on the inside.
Yes - Delta was smiling as well. Not normally known as the climber of the two, he did so well getting to Breckenridge that I decided to give him a shot today. We both thought things went swimmingly.
Once again, the views fail to disappoint. But I might also point out to the reader the road running across the bottom third of the pic. This pic was taken after one of the 7 hairpin turns in the last few miles of the climb to Hoosier Pass. At the time I didn't think much of it, but when we came back down, I was surprised at the elevation gain over such a short distance.
This is me, Kelsy and Parker approaching the summit. Susan was kind enough to walk partway down in order to snap a shot of us nearing the top. The reader should note that the only one of the three of us grimacing is in the lead. Parker would occasionally sing along with the tunes he was listening to as he rode. Weight... (Used with permission of Susan Schoen Photography, LLC.)
After we blazed by at about 8 mph, Susan took this shot. The reader should not speculate as to the reason for my grimacing. Yes, I may have been working a bit harder at the moment. When I see The Rig, I'm like a horse getting back to the barn - pick up the tempo. There's a reclining love seat in there with my name allllll over it.
This is us with the obligatory pic at the summit. Kinda a big deal. And the last alpine pass of the T/A.
Sometimes ya just do what ya gotta do to celebrate.
And then there was this guy. His name is Matt. When we were taking pics, he stopped to chat us up. Turns out that he lives on highway 9 just below the hairpin turns near the top of the pass. He's mostly retired now and was out for a sunny 110 mile jaunt over three mountain passes before getting back home.
I wanted to get in on a pic with Susan at the top. Without her support I'd not have made it this far. This is true of today as well as The Thin Blue Ride in general.
This is the back side of the pass coming down into Fairplay, CO. At one point highway 9 went thru a couple of mild corners and then opened up for maybe 1.5 miles of straight downhill at 6-7%. This is where weight is a plus - and also where the new course record was set at 48.9 mph. We Clydesdales move rather fast downhill. The greyhounds, however, are left in our wake. Just sayin...
An action shot taken on the road South of Fairplay. Everyone was feeling so good at the summit that we decided to ride 9 miles past Fairplay before returning to Frisco for our last night at the Heaton Bay Campground. At this point we had a 1-2% downhill and a moderate tailwind. Net result - we cruised along at between 25-28 mph for most of those 9 miles.
This is Shaun from Seattle. He's riding the T/A East to West with a couple of detours to see places he lived growing up. These places included Taos, NM and Georgetown, CO. Thus making his cross country trip about 5,400 miles. On this day he was planning to stop in Fairplay. When we got there on the way back to Frisco, he was at the gas station where we filled The Rig with gas. We accosted him and forced him to take an ice cream sandwich.
The scene South of Fairplay. Parker proclaimed that he wanted to live in this valley. I can't say that I disagree - at least on a philosophical level.
And this is where the easy cruise South of Fairplay ended. Susan picked us up at a good spot to turn The Rig around. Total trip distance for today was 31 miles - thus considerably shortening the remaining two days to Pueblo. We'll return to this point to start the day tomorrow.
And...still smiling. 21 miles of downhill will do that to ya. BTW - I will be sorely disappointed if every single one of you hasn't already noticed that I'm wearing my new Colorado jersey. I'd been looking for one for some time and found one that fit yesterday.
Oh yes - and lest I leave the reader hanging...
...this is the wrecked camper. The right side is submerged in the river up to the roof and a portion of the over-cab sleeper has detached. We don't know what happened, but...
...if the reader enlarges this pic and looks closely at the dirt just to the right of the post on the left, the reader will note that the soil has been very recently disturbed. Disturbed by something like, oh... an RV tire. Amazingly, it appears that it was just driven into the river. That's my conclusion anyway. This one almost beats the pic of the logging truck that tipped over in Oregon and scattered logs like pick up sticks. But only because, "There but for the grace of God go I." And to be perfectly clear, this is not The Rig.
And let me close with this. Life (and climbing mountain passes) is all about managing expectations. If one lowers them sufficiently, one can never be disappointed. We all went into the day expecting the pass to be miserable. When it wasn't, we were all pleased. So there ya have it, my recipe for a successful and happy life - go in with low expectations.
Till next time.
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